So, you’ve begun to hear the buzz about non-toxic living. You’ve begun to do research into the very first steps towards a non toxic and healthier lifestyle. Maybe you’ve noticed an influx in natural cleaning products at the grocery store, or seen an increase in the number of people using Essential Oils.
Maybe you’ve even had an impactful experience with a natural product. You’re officially interested in hopping on the bandwagon yourself.
4 years ago, I was in your place.
It started slowing, and then I began swapping one thing in my life (you can read why here) and then another and another until nearly every product in my home has been replaced with a non-toxic product. If you’re here today and are interested in starting that process, but overwhelmed by all the options, I hope I can help!
I wanted to share the 5 first steps I believe should be at the very, very beginning of your transition to a more non toxic and healthier lifestyle.
COOK FROM SCRATCH
This isn’t about losing weight, or looking a certain way. But just beginning the process to eat foods that nourish your body. This is such an important step towards living a healthy lifestyle!
The food we eat has the power to give us energy, help us focus, and food even has a huge impact on the pain we feel in our bodies, how we handle our emotions, and how we sleep at night.
If you aren’t used to cooking from home, there are lots of ways you can keep this simple (Using a crockpot/instant pot, making very simple meals). But the goal is to start preparing meals at home, with whole ingredients.
By whole ingredients I’m generally referring to meats, vegetables and possibly grains. Things that occur naturally in the world, not manmade ingredients. Begin reading the labels on your food and watch out for things like sugar, or a slew of preservatives, flavours, etc.
Healthy eating is a spectrum, so if you’re brand new to cooking meals from scratch, go slowly and keep practicing!
SWAP YOUR CLEANING PRODUCTS
I think this is an easy place to start because we are not usually emotionally attached to the cleaning products we use, so this is generally a fairly easy step towards living a healthier lifestyle.
I have an entire blog post dedicated to walking you through switching to non-toxic cleaning products!
At first I thought that vinegar was the only option for natural cleaning products. While vinegar is an effective way to clean your home, if you hate the smell there are other options! I clean my entire house with this all-purpose cleaner .
Definitely be careful with store-bought cleaning supplies that claim to be non-toxic as brands are catching onto this “Trend” and using those marketing terms without committing to actually create better products. Here are a few cleaning products I recommend!
GET RID OF SCENTED PRODUCTS
This goes along with swapping out your cleaning products, but I actually think it deserves to be a separate category. Scented products such as candles, air fresheners, perfume, etc are very harmful to your health.
The term “fragrance” seems like an innocent word, but it in fact can huge hundreds of harmful chemical ingredients. Companies aren’t required to disclose what makes up their fragrance, which means we have no idea if it is safe or not.
Click here to read more about how & why we ditched synthetic fragrances!
I completely stopped burning candles and using air fresheners all together and replaced them with Doterra Essential Oils. I never thought my body was affected by the ingredients in my laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, or air fresheners but I have noticed significant shifts in my health since removing them!
START TO CONSIDER THE ROOT CAUSE
This is a bit of a foreign concept to many people who have grown up with only Western Medicine. There’s nothing wrong with using Western Medicine, but if you’re wanting to pursue a more natural lifestyle and learn about other alternatives, I encourage you to do so!
Basically instead of just taking a pill or using a medication to alleviate every symptom, I always ask myself “Why am I feeling this symptom? What problem could be occurring in my body?”
The truth is that symptoms like headaches, PMS, dry skin, etc are your body trying to send you a message. Your body is trying to tell you that something internally is wrong, and it is causing pain or some other type of symptom. Often Doctors are only concerned with treating the symptom, but holistic and functional healthcare is concerned with finding the root cause and working towards fixing it.
With simple things like a headache, I could easily take an Advil and continue on with my day. Instead, I always ask myself “Have I had enough water? Enough sleep? Have I eaten a healthy meal in the last few hours?” Even considering things like “Am I more stressed than normal? Do I need to be wearing my glasses? Should I take a break from staring at the screen?”.
With more complicated problems, working with a Naturopath Doctor or a Functional Doctor is so helpful to figure out what is going on in your body!
ADD HOUSEPLANTS
Of course I found a way to sneak houseplants into this list 😉
But that’s because they actually have a positive effect on the air we breath! Houseplants have been found to clean the air of Formeldahyde, Benzene and other pollutants. There have also been studies done that suggest houseplants in your home can reduce stress and increase feelings of happiness! Find out my favourite houseplants for beginners here!
I hope this encouraged you to pursue a new healthy habit. I promise it doesn’t have to feel overwhelming when you are working towards a healthier lifestyle! If this was helpful, be sure to pin it for later or to share with a friend!
